It was Christmas 1847 in Clerkenwell, London, and Tom Smith’s cake shop was unusually crowded at the holidays. The gold-painted lettering on the green and black wooden signboard read: “T. Smith’s Wedding Cakes & Crackers – Confections for Christmas.”
“Christmas crackers!” called Mr. Smith, a prominent wedding cake baker, to a shop full of customers eagerly waiting for the noisemakers.
Crates and baskets held the crackers wrapped in shiny foils. They were tied with ribbons and sealed with wax. Although Mr. Smith baked crackers—savory biscuits or water biscuits—his customers stood in line for a different kind: festive novelties that snapped when pulled at both ends.
Brass bells jingled every time the oak shop door opened. Mistletoe hung above the entrance, as if waiting for couples to kiss. Red and green garlands hung across the ceiling.
The smell of freshly baked bread filled the air. Scents of vanilla, chocolate and cinnamon added to the romantic atmosphere. The dark wood shelving held dried fruits, tins of sweets, and candied orange peels. Mr. Smith always made sure to offer trays of cake samples under glass domes on his walnut counter.
Behind the counter sat large, tiered wedding cakes. He specialized in sugar flowers and piped lace. He loved to add tiny bride and groom figures to his creations. Candlelight flickered from inside the shop during winter nights, next to a small gas lantern.
“Come get your Christmas gift!” Mr. Smith said in his white apron, as he handed the green, red, and gold crackers to his customers by the door of his shop. “These crackers contain romantic fortunes filled with Christmas magic.”
He had been trying to attract new customers that passed by on the narrow cobblestone street. It bustled with foot traffic and horse-drawn carts. Inside the shop, his assistants in waistcoats rang up the brass cash register and wrapped gift boxes. They also offered samples and refilled shelves. Customers laughed when fortunes were read.
Waiting for his own true love, he kept baking wedding cakes. Another day, another tier, and another stack of crackers!
“Yipee!” he said, as customers opened his crackers. They made one explosive crack after the other. He watched as the men and women were excited to find their romantic fortunes. “Do you believe in true love?” he asked his customers. “I do, but I just haven’t found it yet.”
His tiered wedding cakes sat delicately in his large bay window, fogged with condensation. The cakes stood on fine china next to a Christmas tree decorated with the colorful crackers and handmade ornaments. The cakes were several tiers high with swirling icing and intricate design. Sculptors sculpted with clay, but he baked cakes.
“I will have a wedding cake just like this one when I get married!” announced an elegant woman who walked in the shop. She wore a long red velvet dress with ruffles. Her black coat, bonnet, and leather gloves were covered with snowflakes from the winter storm.
“When is the date?” Mr. Smith asked his beautiful customer. He adjusted his high-collared shirt, rolled up his sleeves, and wiped the flour from his hands. “I need to make sure to get your order on my calendar, so it’s done in time.”
He noticed that the sun shone a little brighter through the shop bay window. As the snow fell on the sidewalk, there was not a cloud in the sky.
Customers experimented with the crackers, and the noisemakers crackled like logs put on a fire in a twist of paper. Mr. Smith thought his marketing genius seemed to be a big hit!
“Oh, I’m not engaged yet,” she explained, as she took off her bonnet and shook her brown curls. She had a twinkle in her eye. “But I will be engaged soon. Very soon. I just need the right man.”
“Oh, I see. Maybe he will come as a Christmas gift!” Mr. Smith said, as he handed her a sample of his chocolate wedding cake from the counter. “Please enjoy a piece of cake.”
“Thank you very much indeed,” the lovely woman joked. “What are these shiny toys?”
“Those are Christmas crackers!” he answered with a laugh. “I put love fortunes in the crackers that always come true every time.”
“Love fortunes!” she gasped and grabbed a handful. She dumped the change from her pockets on his counter. “I need all the love messages that I can get! Especially if they come true. I’ve been having a terrible day until now.”
“I’m considering putting sweets, jewelry, and small toys in some of them for fun,” Mr. Smith said. “I thought expanding the merchandise might increase business,” he continued, as she opened her first cracker with a pop.
“It says, ‘You’ve just met your true love!’” the brunette woman whispered. Then, she looked up at Mr. Smith.
“Charlotte Thompson—is that what it says?” he stammered and scratched his head. She’d been visiting his shop often and always flirted with him. “Does that mean me?”
“Yes, kind sir, I think it does mean you,” Miss Thompson said, as she smiled at him.
Of course, Mr. Smith had known this woman since childhood, and she had been in love with him for years. She made him so nervous that he never knew how to react to her advances. He was a stubborn bachelor, but he knew that he needed to settle down with a good wife.
Before Mr. Smith could say anything else, Charlotte threw her arms around him and kissed him. The cake baker thought her outrageous behavior must be from the Christmas magic found in the noisemakers. She had never acted so impulsively.
“Marry me!” she exclaimed, as the enchantment must have been spreading all throughout the shop. “Marry me! And I’ll take every cake in your shop for the rest of my life.”
At first, Mr. Smith tried to fight back, but after a moment, he figured there was no use in fighting with a gorgeous woman who loved him and his sweets.
“Christmas crackers! It’s Christmas magic,” Mr. Smith said. He kissed her back in front of his entire shop of customers. A line had formed out the door, watching his romance unfold.
He appreciated Charlotte even if she drove him crazy with her whimsical disposition. Since he was too analytical and rigid at times, she was everything he needed. She charmed him with her charisma. “Will you be my Mrs. Smith?” he asked her.
“Of course, I will,” the wife-to-be agreed, as she painted his lips with icing. “Taste the icing!”
He laughed and thought how wonderful it felt to be loved. Not everyone in the world had such a special person in their life like Charlotte, who always showed up at the right time. He was already shopping for a diamond ring in his mind.
“Get your Christmas crackers!” Mr. Smith said to the other customers in the shop. “They’re going fast! Soon all the wedding chapels will be full.”
Their shop became known as a miraculous place where romantic messages read by customers in the Christmas crackers proved true every time, even if there were a few bumps along the way.
“You can kiss me whenever you want,” Miss Thompson told Mr. Smith in front of their customers. “No mistletoe needed!”
“I’d like a flurry of kisses,” Mr. Smith replied. He kissed her as the shop door opened and blew in snow from the latest storm.
“My snowflake wishes have all come true, and so can yours,” Charlotte announced.
With one final “CRACK!” from a Christmas cracker, the love story between Mr. and Mrs. Smith became legendary. Each year at Christmas, the lasting love of the Smiths was so overwhelming that it caused their Christmas crackers to spread all over the world.
The magic of the fortunes sparked one romantic love story after the other. And so, Mr. and Mrs. Smith lived happily ever after with wedding cakes, Christmas crackers, and marvelous love all around them.
Copyright 2021, 2025 Jennifer Waters
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